ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today that Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform continues to widen its global reach and will now be available across 197 Sony devices, namely all the latest (2016-17) smart TVs and Blue-ray players worldwide.
The compelling and vast repository of Eros Now’s library of films, music, regional content and original shows will offer a rich experience to consumers on multiple Sony devices. Users will also have access to a range of exciting features including offline viewing, thematic curated playlists, music video playlists, regional language filters, video progression and access to a Watch List of titles.
Commenting on the association, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital says, “We have always strived to provide our users the best of Indian entertainment with a seamless experience across screens. We are excited that Eros Now will be available on Sony products, one of the world’s most recognized consumer electronics giants, to further our philosophy to be platform agnostic and embracing the very best in technology as we continue to enhance user experience and increase our reach.”
Eros Now is Eros International Plc’s leading on-demand South Asian entertainment network accessible anytime, anywhere, on most Internet-connected screen including mobile, web, and TV. Eros Now offers its 55 million registered users worldwide the promise of endless entertainment hosting one of the largest libraries of movies, as well as premium television shows, music videos and audio tracks, unmatched in quantity and quality. Product features, such as video in HD, subtitles in English and Arabic, movie downloads, and high quality original drama series differentiate the Eros Now entertainment offering. To see, watch now: www.erosnow.com
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films. The company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. For further information please visit: www.erosplc.com

ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros Now, one of the fastest growing digital over-the-top (OTT) Indian entertainment platforms, owned by Eros International Plc (NYSE:EROS), today announced a partnership with T-Mobile’s video streaming program, Binge On. This association will enable users of T-Mobile across the United States to enjoy Eros Now’s premium entertainment through Binge On without paying any data charges.
Eros Now, a world-class digital OTT platform, will now reach out to T-Mobile’s large customer base of approximately 71.5 million users across the US, who can stream its extensive library of Bollywood and regional language films, music, and originals for free without using any high-speed data, all automatically applied to their qualifying plan.
Commenting on the association, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital, said, “We are excited about our exponential growth by joining hands with a leading American wireless network player like T-Mobile, a strategic association that will enable us to continue engaging with newer customers in the US thorough their optimized video streaming Binge On”.
Eros Now is Eros International Plc’s leading on-demand Indian entertainment network accessible anytime, anywhere, on most Internet-connected screen including mobile, web, and TV. Eros Now offers its 55 million registered users worldwide the promise of endless entertainment hosting one of the largest libraries of movies, as well as premium television shows, music videos and audio tracks, unmatched in quantity and quality. Product features, such as video in HD, subtitles in English and Arabic, movie downloads, and high quality original drama series differentiate the Eros Now entertainment offering. To see, watch now: www.erosnow.com.
Eros International Plc (NYSE:EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films for home entertainment distribution. The Company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. In 2015, 3 out of the top 4 box office films and 7 out of the top 15 box office films were from Eros. For further information, please visit: www.erosplc.com.

ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today that Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform, has partnered with one of the most significant Indian film awards events - the 18th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, organized by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The main event will be held in New York at the MetLife Stadium on July 14th and 15th. As Title Sponsors for the IIFA Weekend, Eros Now will be the first digital platform to air the awards weekend to its millions of subscribers worldwide.
Eros Now subscribers will have exclusive access to all the ceremonies and events that make up the star-studded IIFA Weekend, which is attended by leading Bollywood talent. The main awards night will be hosted by leading Indian director Karan Johar and actor Saif Ali Khan. Eros Now subscribers will also be able to access a host of behind-the-scenes exclusive content with their favorite film celebrities during the IIFA Weekend.
Commenting on the association, Rishika Lulla Singh CEO - Eros Digital said, “Eros Now strives to offer the best of Bollywood content to our viewers and it gives us immense pleasure to associate with Wizcraft and come on board as Title Sponsor for IIFA Weekend, one of the most celebrated and recognized Indian film award ceremonies across the globe. We are very excited to bring our subscribers an opportunity to witness these grand celebrations before any other digital platform. With two leading players from the entertainment space coming together for the awards gala, the teams promise to magnify its scope and amplify its vision to reach out to Indian cinema lovers across the world.”
The last seventeen years have seen the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) grow from a one-night celebration at the Millennium Dome in London, to a packed weekend of film festivals, workshops, exhibitions, film-showcases, a global business forum and sporting events.
Sabbas Joseph, founder-director of IIFA and Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, commented, “IIFA is dedicated to bringing the best of Indian cinema to its audiences across the world. Our partnership with EROS NOW enables viewers to experience Indian cinema’s biggest celebration in the world up close and personal. We look forward to making sharing unseen aspects of IIFA on the EROS NOW platform through the IIFA journey on the global app platform.”
Eros Now is Eros International Plc’s leading on-demand Indian entertainment network accessible anytime, anywhere, on most Internet-connected screen including mobile, web, and TV. Eros Now offers its 58 million registered users worldwide the promise of endless entertainment hosting one of the largest libraries of movies, as well as premium television shows, music videos and audio tracks, unmatched in quantity and quality. Product features, such as video in HD, subtitles in English and Arabic, movie downloads, and high quality original drama series differentiate the Eros Now entertainment offering. To see, watch now: www.erosnow.com.
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films. The company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. For further information please visit: www.erosplc.com

ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today that it will issue a press release to report its results for fourth quarter and fiscal year 2017 before the market opens on Friday, July 28, 2017.
Eros International’s Chief Executive Officer, Jyoti Deshpande and Chief Financial Officer, Prem Parameswaran will host a live audio discussion about the Company’s financial results and business outlook at 8:30 am ET. The discussion will be moderated by John Janedis, analyst at Jefferies, with questions submitted via email. Questions from investors should be submitted in advance as possible for inclusion to jjanedis@jefferies.com.
To access the call please dial 646 254 3387 or 855 217 7942 from the United States, or +44(0)20 3427 1931 or +44(0)800 279 4842 from outside the U.S. The conference call I.D. number is 9776352. Participants should dial in 5 to 10 minutes before the scheduled time.
A replay of the call can be accessed through August 3, 2017 by dialing 719 457 0820 or 888 203 1112 from the U.S., or +44(0)207 984 7568 or +44(0)808 101 1153 from outside the U.S. The conference call I.D. number is 9776352. The call will be available as a live webcast, which can be accessed at Eros’ Investor Relations website. A replay of the webcast recording will be available until July 28, 2018.
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films for home entertainment distribution. The Company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. For further information, please visit: www.erosplc.com

ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros International Plc (NYSE:EROS) (“Eros” or “the Company”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, today reported its quarterly financial results for the three and twelve months ended March 31, 2017.
Despite releasing a significantly lower number of films compared to last year and specifically fewer high and medium budget Hindi films compared to fiscal year 2016, mainly due to impact and after-effects of Rupee demonetization, the Company delivered reasonably steady revenues. This was achieved through a combination of bundled pre-sales strategy which helps us de-risk our business as well as effective monetization of our library and a strong regional film strategy during the year. Eros' Indian subsidiary, Eros International Media Ltd, signed a significant television syndication multi‐film deal with Zee in Q4 FY17, locking in pre-sales for some of the film slate of FY 2018.
A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures discussed within this release to our GAAP operating results are included at the end of this release. See also “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Our Fiscal 2017 financial results reflect the flexibility and robustness of the Eros business model wherein we are able to offset slate volatility as well as impact of extraneous market factors beyond our control with steadily increasing high margin catalogue revenues.
Secondly it reflects our financial strength and stability where in without raising any significant external debt or equity, we not only paid down the RCF significantly but also funded our ongoing future slate as well as Eros Now catalogue purchases and originals and still have around $115 million of cash balance after all that. Over $200 million is already invested in the ongoing slate. While we are in advanced stages of negotiations for a debt refinancing deal as well as expect to file a shelf for a potential capital raise soon after this earnings, even if any of these are delayed we are already well capitalized and have enough cash to continue to grow the business in the short to medium turn.
Peak investments in Eros Now like strengthening the catalogue have already taken place so now we can expect to reap from those investments with extraordinary growth ahead of us. The upside from new markets like China, investments for which are already built into our normal capex can also result in windfall gain in the forthcoming fiscals. Our shareholder support has always been strong and we remain committed to staying focused on consolidating our market leadership position and enhancing the shareholder value.
Prem Parameswaran, Group Chief Financial Officer and President of North America also commented:
We believe these are a strong set of financial results in the context that they were delivered. We have further reduced our net debt by close to a further $ 40 million post balance sheet. We have collected over $25 million of fiscal 2017 trade receivables post balance sheet. We continue to pursue refinancing and capital market transaction and are confident we will go back to being free cash flow positive in fiscal 2018 as we were in fiscal 2016.
Eros announced an industry-leading film production pipeline of more than 50 films across eight languages involving over 40 directors. The Company has always thought of ourselves as a content company and have always been committed to growing the India regional film industry. To this effect, its Indian subsidiary, Eros International Media Ltd, has partnered with Phars Film, UAE’s largest film distribution and exhibition network to jointly co-produce and distribute Malayalam films in respective local territories, where each enjoys a dominant market share. The Company is also pleased to announce two Indo-Turkish co-productions with Pana Film, one of the largest Turkish film studios for Indo-Turkish co-productions. Original stories blending Indian and Turkish cultures will be conceptualized and developed by Eros’ in-house writers along with top Turkish writers, and both films will be bilingual. This will expand and deepen its presence into Turkey, the Middle East and North African regions.
Eros continues to expand its geographical monetization canvas. With the support of the Indian Government and using its position as a leading overseas distributor of Indian film content, Eros has continued exploring and opening up new markets. Eros is in the process of releasing its recent offering Munna Micheal in Russia.
During the FY2017, the Company released a total of 45 films including 5 high budget, 10 medium budget and 30 low budget films as compared to a total of 63 films including 6 high budget, 16 medium budget and 41 low budget films during the FY2016. Major releases for FY 2017 included: Housefull 3 (Hindi), Ki & Ka (Hindi), Dishoom (Hindi), Baar Baar Dekho (Hindi), Rock On 2 (Hindi), Neel Batte Sannatta (Hindi), Happy Bhaag Jayegi (Hindi), Banjo (Hindi), Kahaani 2 (Hindi), Sardaar Gabbar Singh (Telugu), Janata Garage (Telugu), 24 (Tamil), White (Malayalam), & Zara Hatke (Marathi), Chaar Sahibzaade 2 (Punjabi), Amar Prem (Bengali) and Double Feluda (Bengali).
India is one of the largest mobile handset markets in the world, and being present across all devices is a key strategy for the Company. In Fiscal 2017, Eros Now concluded deals with Samsung to power Bollywood entertainment and Micromax for distribution as a pre-install across all devices.
The Indian film sector has in the recent past attracted significant interest from international majors who are trying to rapidly expand their Indian film libraries and as a result has driven up value of the Indian content. One of Eros’ key assets is a large content library which will be a major beneficiary of this trend. At the same time, in order to effectively manage the cost of our future content, Eros has taken active steps over the past two years to develop its own intellectual properties by partnering with both Indian talent and International film companies that offer strategic benefits. Trinity Pictures, the company’s visionary venture and in-house franchise label has more than twenty franchises written across new and diverse genres.
Competition within the Indian entertainment industry has always been intense however the market and target audience is broad and diverse in nature. Several SVOD players have been increasing their investment into acquiring and bidding for new content thus making the barriers to entry for new entrants in the Indian OTT landscape very high. The Company strongly believes that linear TV programming in India, although still very large, will slowly be replaced by Internet TV and as a result several OTT services will be successful due to the sheer size, diversity and breadth of the market.
Eros is proud to announce that Eros Now has over 60 million registered users worldwide across WAP, App and Web as of March 31, 2017 and approximately 68 million registered users as of June 30, 2017. Eros Now, having crossed its full year target of a million paying subscribers in the very first quarter of the year, also achieved its year-end target of 2 million paying subscribers before end of FY2017. Continuing with the momentum, as of June 2017, Eros Now has 2.9 million paying subscribers, tripling the base in just 15 months.
Eros Now holds rights to more than 10,000 films, out of which around 5,000 films are owned in perpetuity, across Hindi and regional languages and is launching more original series in the second half of FY 2018 after successfully launching 'Salute Siachen', A first of its kind docu-series shot on mobile phones, India's first ever celebrity high endurance expedition to the Siachen Glacier in FY 2017.
Eros Now was also the number one trending app on the Google Play Store in the month of July. Apple has also featured the Eros Now app in its “App Store Best of 2016,” which is a significant testament to Eros’ product and service. Demonetization’s silver lining is the large addressable market through mobile wallets for Eros Now. Eros expands its reach by having tied up exclusively with SBI Buddy and other e-wallets in India such as Paytm, Mobikwik, Freecharge and Speedpay with an aggregate addressable market of 260 million.
Eros Now partnered with IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) to be the first exclusive digital platform to air the awards weekend to its millions of subscribers worldwide. It also penetrated deeper into the market in Fiscal 2017 by forming long term partnerships across the leading Telecom operators in India including Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL and Airtel.
Kishore Lulla, Executive Chairman of Eros International Plc commented, “We have made monumental progress with Eros Now touching almost 3 million paying subscribers, a digital library amounting to over 10,000 titles, with the catalogue worth more than a billion dollars and landmark distribution deals with some of the world’s largest brands including Apple, Samsung, Vodafone, Etisalat and Verizon just to name a few.
"We look forward to a future where Eros Now will have 100 million subscribers within the next 5 years, with 6 to 8 million paid subscribers in Fiscal Year 2018 therefore driving the profitability and positive cash flows. Having pioneered the Indo China co production model we look forward to replicating this with Turkey Russia Malaysia therefore truly positioning Eros as a global digital player including vertically integrated film studio."
(1) Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures discussed within this release to our GAAP operating results are included at the end of this release. See also “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Financial Results for the Three and Twelve Months Ended March 31, 2017
In fiscal 2017, Eros film slate comprised 45 films of which five were high budget, ten were medium budget and 30 were low budget as compared to 63 films in fiscal 2016, of which six was high budget, sixteen were medium budget and 41 were low budget. In the three months ended March 31, 2016, Eros film slate comprised 12 films of which six were medium budget and six were low budget as compared 5 films in the three months ended March 31, 2017, of which one was medium budget and four were low budget.
In fiscal 2017, the Company’s slate of 45 films comprised 12 Hindi films, 16 Tamil/Telugu films and 17 regional films as compared to the same period last year where its slate of 63 films comprised 33 Hindi films, 19 Tamil/Telugu films and 11 regional film. In three months ended March 31, 2017, the Company’s slate of 5 films comprised 2 Tamil/Telugu films and 3 regional films as compared to the same period last year where its slate of 12 films comprised 3 Hindi films, 4 Tamil/Telugu films and 5 regional films.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, revenue decreased by 19.0% to $ 52.7 million, compared to $65.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016. For the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, revenue decreased by 7.8% to $253.0 million, compared to $274.4 million for the twelve months ended March 31, 2016.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, aggregate theatrical revenues decreased by 30.7% to $12.4 million from $17.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, mainly due to less number of films, especially High and medium budget Hindi films, since many of the releases were deferred due to adverse market conditions during the Rupee demonetisation by the Indian government in November 2016 which resulted in decreased footfalls in cinemas in India. In the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, the aggregate theatrical revenues decreased by 27.0% to $101.0 million from $138.4 million for the twelve months ended March 31, 2016. The decrease in theatrical revenues reflects the mix of films released in each period as reflected in the table below. Theatrical revenues in the twelve months ended March 31, 2016 comprised revenues from Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bajirao Mastani, Tanu Weds Manu Returns three out of the top four highest grossing films of 2016 in comparison to a relatively weakerslate in 2017 with Housefull 3 as the only top 10 film so far coupled with the negative impact of demonetisation on the Indian film industry since November 2016.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, aggregate revenues from television syndication decreased by 16.2% to $22.2 million from $26.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, mainly due to lower new release television revenues partially offset by catalogue revenues. In the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, the aggregate revenues from television syndication increased by 22.1% to $88.0 million from $72.1 million for the twelve months ended March 31, 2016. This was due to resuming catalogue sales since April 2017 after a brief hold back in catalogue sales in the last two quarters of FY 2016 as reported and accelerating the catalogue sales since in the last two quarters of fiscal 2017 post the Rupee demonetization.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, the aggregate revenues from digital and ancillary decreased by 13% to $18.1 million from $20.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 again reflecting the film slate mix in the comparable periods. In the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, the aggregate revenues from digital and ancillary increased by 0.2% to $64 million from $63.9 million for the twelve months ended March 31, 2016 mainly driven by catalogue monetization strategy, revenues from Eros Now and contribution from other ancillary revenues streams.
Revenue from India decreased by 37.1% to $19.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2017, compared to $31.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016 mainly due to the negative impact of the rupee demonetisation and subsequent drop in cinema footfalls. In the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, revenue from India decreased by 23.7% to $122 million, compared to $159.9 million in the twelve months ended March 31, 2016. The decrease was mainly due to lower theatrical revenues from a combination of rupee demonetisation impact as well as a weaker slate mix, with 2016 slate comprising of blockbuster hits such as Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bajirao Mastani and Tanu Weds Manu, and partially offset by a stronger catalogue revenue contribution.
Revenue from Europe decreased by 7% to $10.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2017, compared to $11.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. In the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, revenue from Europe decreased by 24.9% to $25.7 million, compared to $34.2 million in the twelve months ended March 31, 2016. This was on account of lower theatrical revenues of the comparable film slate but partially offset by some catalogue sales in the current quarter.
Revenue from North America decreased by 83.3% to $0.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2017, compared to $0.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2017. In the twelve months ended March 31, 2016, revenue from North America decreased by 82.9% to $2.5 million, compared to $14.6 million in the twelve months ended March 2016. This was on account of relatively lower theatrical revenues from the film slate and lower catalogue revenues.
Revenue from rest of the world increased by 1.8% to $22.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2017, compared to $21.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. In the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, revenue from the rest of the world increased by 56.5% to $102.8 million, compared to $65.7 million in the twelve months ended March 31, 2016, mainly due to decreased theatrical revenues from the film mix offset by increased catalogue revenues and accelerated catching up on sales held back in the second half of fiscal 2016.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, cost of sales decreased by 25.4% to $32.3 million compared to $43.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. The decrease was mainly because of lower amortisation costs associated with the comparable film mix and lower marketing and advertising costs. For the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, cost of sales decreased by 5.2% to $164.2 million compared to $172.8 million in twelve months period ended March 31, 2016, primarily due to increases in cumulative amortization costs of $7 million in twelve months ended March 2017.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, gross profit decreased by 6.4% to $20.4 million, compared to $21.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. As a percentage of revenues, the company’s gross profit margin was 38.7% in the three months ended March 31, 2017, compared to 33.5% in the three months ended March 31, 2016. This was mainly due to high margin catalogue revenues.
In fiscal 2017 gross profit decreased by 12.8% to $88.8 million, compared to $101.7 million in fiscal 2016. As a percentage of revenues, our gross profit margin was 35.1% in the fiscal 2017, compared to 37.0% in fiscal 2016. This was mainly due to an overall weaker slate mix, reduced theatrical revenues for the films released during the rupee demonetization in India but partially offset by strong catalogue revenues.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, EBIT increased by 250% to $4.9 million compared to $1.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. In fiscal 2017, EBIT increased by 16.8% to $39.7 million, compared to $34 million in fiscal 2016 mainly due to higher catalogue sales since April 2017 after a brief hold back in catalogue sales in the last two quarters of FY 2016 as reported and accelerating the catalogue sales since in the last two quarters of fiscal 2017 post the Rupee demonetization.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, adjusted EBITDA decreased by 34.7% to $9.4 million compared to $14.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. In fiscal 2017, adjusted EBITDA decreased by 21.4% to $55.7 million, compared to $70.9 million in fiscal 2016 mainly due to lower new release revenues due to Rupee demonetization impact offset by significant high margin catalogue revenues.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, administrative costs increased by 6.0% to $15.8 million compared to $14.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016. In fiscal 2017, administrative costs decreased by 1.1% to $63.3 million compared to $64.0 million for the fiscal, 2016, due to lower share based compensation.
For the three months ended March 31, 2017, net finance costs increased by 463.6% $6.2 million, compared to $1.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2017. In fiscal 2017, net finance costs increased by 115.0% to $17.2 million, compared to $8 million in fiscal 2016, mainly due to lower income from financing activities and increased borrowing costs.
In fiscal 2017, the provisions for income taxes are $11.0 million, compared to $12.7 million in fiscal 2016, respectively. Effective income tax rates were 31% and 21.1% for fiscal 2017 and 2016, respectively excluding non-deductible share-based payment charges. The change in effective rate principally reflects a change in the pattern of the profits subject to income tax amongst our subsidiaries.
In fiscal 2017 ended March 31, 2017, net income decreased by 13.5% to $11.5 million compared to $13.3 million for the fiscal, 2016.
As of March 31, 2017, Trade Receivables increased to $226.8 million from $169.43 million as of March 31, 2016 mainly due to significantly higher catalogue sales in fiscal 2017 compared to fiscal 2016 where Eros had held back at least $40 million of catalogue sales in the last two quarters. Catalogue sales have payment terms that sometimes extend up to a year. We have collected over $25 million of fiscal 2017 trade receivables post balance sheet.
As of March 31, 2017, net debt increased to $157.6 million from $120.4 million as of March 31, 2016 mainly due to Revolving Credit Facility being significantly paid down with internal cash balances offset by relatively lower cash flow from operating activities due to revenue mix being skewed to catalogue revenues that have longer payment cycles.
The Company will host a conference call on Friday, July 28, 2017, at 8:30 AM Eastern Standard Time.
To access the call please dial 646 254 3387 or 855 217 7942 from the United States, or +44(0)20 3427 1931 or +44(0)800 279 4842 from outside the U.S. The conference call I.D. number is 9776352. Participants should dial in 5 to 10 minutes before the scheduled time.
A replay of the call can be accessed through August 3, 2017 by dialing 719 457 0820 or 888 203 1112 from the U.S., or +44(0)207 984 7568 or +44(0)808 101 1153 from outside the U.S. The conference call I.D. number is 9776352. The call will be available as a live webcast, which can be accessed at Eros’ Investor Relations website. A replay of the webcast recording will be available until July 28, 2018.
The Company uses the term Net Income, as the International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) define the term as synonymous with profit for the period.
In addition to the results prepared in accordance with IFRS provided in this release, the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA. The company uses Adjusted EBITDA along with other IFRS measures to evaluate operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is defined by the Company as net income before interest expense, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization (excluding amortization of capitalized film content and debt issuance costs) adjusted for impairments of available-for-sale financial assets, profit/loss on held for trading liabilities (including profit/loss on derivatives) share based payments and transaction costs related to equity transactions.
Adjusted EBITDA, as used and defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures employed by other companies and is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income, net income, cash flows from operating investing and financing activities, or other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA provides no information regarding a company’s capital structure, borrowings, interest costs, capital expenditures and working capital movement or tax position. However, our management team believes that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors in evaluating our results of operations because this measure:
• is widely used by investors to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items excluded from the calculation of such, term, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired, among other factors;
• help investors to evaluate and compare the results of our operations from period to period by removing the effect of our capital structure from our operating structure; and
• is used by our management team for various other purposes, including presentations to our board of directors, as a basis for strategic planning and forecasting.
See the supplemental financial schedules for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income.
Some of the information presented in this press release and in related comments by Eros’ management contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, these forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as “aim,” ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ “feel,” “contemplate,” ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘predict,’’ ‘‘will,’’ “future,” “goal,” “objective,” and similar expressions and include references to assumptions and relate to Eros' future prospects, developments and business strategies. Similarly, statements that describe Eros' strategies, objectives, plans or goals are forward-looking statements and are based on information available to Eros as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the relevant statement. Such risks and uncertainties include a variety of factors, some of which are beyond Eros’ control, including but not limited to market conditions and economic conditions. Information concerning these and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements is contained under the caption “Risk Factors” in Eros’ Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Eros undertakes no obligation to revise the forward-looking statements included herein to reflect any future events or circumstances, except as required by law. Eros’ actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.
The Groups’ financial position and results of operations for any period fluctuate due to film release schedules. Film release schedules take account of holidays and festivals in India and elsewhere, competitor film releases and sporting events.
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc was the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has a competitive advantage through its extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films for home entertainment distribution. Eros International has built a dynamic business model by combining the release of new films every year with the exploitation of its film library. The company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. For further information please visit: www.erosplc.com
The age of trade accounts receivables past due but not impaired is as follows:
An analysis of long-term borrowings is shown in the table below.
Bank prime lending rate and marginal cost lending rate (“BPLR” & “MCLR”) is the Indian equivalent to LIBOR. Asset backed borrowings are secured by fixed and floating charges over certain Group assets.
*Secured by pledge of shares held in the group’s majority owned Subsidiary Eros International Media Limited, India.
Fair value of the long - term borrowings as at March 31, 2017 is $155,923 (2016: $195,924). Fair values of long-term financial liabilities except retail bonds have been determined by calculating their present values at the reporting date, using fixed effective market interest rates available to the Companies within the Group. As at March 31, 2017, the fair value of retail bond amounting to $43,416 has been determined using quoted prices from the LSE. Carrying amount of short - term borrowings are considered a reasonable approximation of fair value.
Acceptances comprise of credit availed from financial institutions for payment to film producers for film co-production arrangement entered by the group. The carrying value of acceptances are considered a reasonable approximation of fair value
In July, August and November 2016, the Company issued 62,439 ‘A’ ordinary shares to certain executive directors and ex-employee out of IPO 2006 Plan. As at March 31, 2017, all the share options have been exercised and issued.
On June 9, 2015, the Board of Directors approved a grant of 580,000 ‘A’ ordinary shares to certain executive directors with a fair market value of $21.34 per share. Subject to continued employment, these awards with Nil exercise price, vest over a period of three years. In August 2016, 360,000 shares of 580,000 share awards were issued of which 180,000 shares were issued with restriction. Further, in October 2016, 60,000 shares out of the remaining 220,000 share awards were issued.
The Board of Directors approved grant of 24,500 share awards to certain employees on various dates between the months of August to October 2016. These awards with Nil exercise price and fair market value of $ 15.91 -$ 17.01 vested on grant date and were issued immediately on vesting dates.
On September 8, 2016, the Board of Directors approved a grant of 100,000 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to a certain employee with Nil value exercise price and a fair market value of $16.2. These awards vested on grant date and were issued on September 23, 2016.
In September 2016, the Company issued 2,000,310 ‘A’ ordinary shares to two of its existing institutional shareholders for an aggregate consideration of $30 million.
On October 12, 2016 & January 23, 2017, permitted Class B shares aggregating to 3,247,939 and 2,333,333 Class B shares respectively, were converted into Class A shares. This was effected through the cancellation of 5,581,272 Class B shares and subsequent issuance of the equivalent amount of Class A shares.
On June 5, 2014, the Board of Directors had approved a grant of 525,000 ‘A’ ordinary share awards with a fair market value of $14.95 per share, to certain executive directors and members of senior management. These awards vest subject to certain share price conditions being met on or before May 31, 2015 and the employee remaining in service until May 31, 2015. On fulfilment of share price condition, 487,500 restricted shares were issued on December 1, 2014. All these awards have since vested and shares issued. In case of except 30,000 share awards for which shares were issued on November 2, 2016.
On September 4, 2015, the Company entered into an employment exit agreement with an employee pursuant to which the Board approved a grant of 20,000 ‘A’ ordinary share awards with Nil exercise price and a fair market value of $33.66 per share. These shares were issued on November 2, 2016.
On September 24, 2014, the Board approved a grant of 116,730 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to certain employees. These awards, granted to the employees on October 21, 2014 with Nil exercise price, subject to continued employment, vest annually in three equal tranches from the date of grant. Fair value of each award was $17.07. In April 2016, 1,750 shares were issued with further issuances of 35,050 in October 2016, November 2016, and January 2017.
On June 28, 2016, the Board of Directors approved a grant of 197,820 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to certain employees with a fair value of $ 14.68 per share. Subject to continued employment, these awards with Nil exercise price vest over a period of two and half years with first tranche vesting on November 11, 2016. In Fiscal 2017, 61,380 shares were issued.
On February 13, 2017, the Company entered into an employment exit agreement with an employee pursuant to which the management approved a grant of 17,437 ‘A’ ordinary share awards with Nil exercise price and a fair market value of $11.5 per share. These shares were issued on February 24, 2017.
As at March 31, 2017, none of the awards were forfeited.
On August 1, 2015, Eros’ subsidiary Eros International Media Limited (“EIML”) acquired 100% of the shares and voting interests in Techzone. In accordance with the terms of the agreement between the parties, EIML issued 900,970 equity shares to the shareholders of Techzone at an acquisition date fair value of INR 586 ($9.16) per share. Up to March 31, 2016, pending completion of valuation of assets, including intangible assets, the purchase price was allocated on a preliminary basis to net assets based on initial estimates. On July 31, 2016 the valuation has been completed and purchase price allocation has been finalized and changes recognized with retrospective effect. The impact of the final allocation is not material to the Group’s financial position or results of operations.
The compensation cost recognized with respect to all outstanding plans and by grant of shares, which are all equity settled instruments, is as follows:
In the meeting date June 28, 2016, the Board of Directors approved the following grants:
620,000 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to certain executive directors with a fair value of $14.68 per share. Subject to continued employment these awards with Nil exercise price, vest over a period of three years.
197,820 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to certain employees with a fair market value of $14.68 per share. Subject to continued employment, these awards with Nil exercise price, vest over a period of three years.
On September 8, 2016, the Board of Directors approved, 100,000 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to an employee with a fair market value of $16.2 per share. These awards vested on grant date.
On September 22, 2016, the Board of Directors approved a grant of 18,915 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to certain employees with Nil value exercise price and a fair market value of $16.2. These awards vest over a period of three years.
The Board of Directors approved grant of 24,500 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to certain employees on various dates between the months of August to October 2016. These awards with Nil exercise value and a fair market value of $ 15.91 - $ 17.01 on grant date.
On February 17, 2017, the Board of Directors approved, 50,000 ‘A’ ordinary share awards to an employee with a fair market value of $12.5 per share. Subject to continued employment, these awards with Nil exercise price, vest over a period of three years.
The above table does not split the earnings per share separately for the ‘A’ ordinary 30p shares and the ‘B’ ordinary 30p shares as there is no variation in their entitlement to participate in undistributed earnings.
The net gains/(losses) on held for trading financial liabilities in the three and twelve months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, principally relate to derivative instruments not designated in a hedging relationship.
Significant non-cash expenses except loss on sale of assets, share based compensation, depreciation, derivative interest and amortization were as follows:
(1) Includes only amortization of intangible assets other than intangible content assets.
(2) Consists of compensation costs recognized with respect to all outstanding plans and all other equity settled instruments.

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fathom Events’ brand-new “Best of Bollywood Event Series” begins with a 15th anniversary showing of the critically-acclaimed romantic drama, “Devdas,” from one of the leading Indian film studios, Eros International, on big screens nationwide this summer. The epic love story directed by the much celebrated and multiple Indian National award-winning director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. It was also India's entry for an Academy Award® for best foreign film in 2002 and was hailed by Time Magazine as one of the top ten features of the millennium.
“Devdas 15th Anniversary” will be presented in U.S. movie theaters for two showings on Sunday, July 23 only, at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time.
Tickets for “Devdas 15th Anniversary” are available now at www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 200 select movie theaters. A complete list of theater locations is available on the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants subject to change).
Commenting on the occasion, Pranab Kapadia, President Marketing & Distribution, Eros International plc, said, “With the celebration of ‘Devdas’ on its 15th anniversary, attendees will get to experience an Indian epic that wowed fans with a story of unrelenting love. The film's storied history from the Cannes Film Festival to its iconic duet dance numbers will be a delight for audiences young and old."
Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan) is a wealthy law school graduate who returns home from London to marry his childhood sweetheart Paro (Aishwaraya Rai Bachchan). Conflict arises when his family denounces the marriage, sending him into an emotional downward spiral fueled by alcohol. He meets Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), a prostitute who helps him find temporary solace as he tries to mend his broken heart after seeing Paro move on with her life.
“Fathom is delighted to partner with Eros International to bring one of Bollywood’s most iconic and influential films to U.S. movie theatres for this special milestone,” Fathom Events VP of Studio relations Tom Lucas said. “’Devdas’ is known by many film lovers for its choreography, acting and heart-wrenching love story. We expect its presentation on the big screen here in the U.S. to win over the hearts of a new audience and rekindle the passions of those familiar with the title.”
The “Best of Bollywood Event Series” will also include the legendary “Veer-Zaara,” starring Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji, from leading Indian filmmaker Yash Raj Films. More details and additional titles will be announced soon.
For artwork/images related to “Best of Bollywood Event Series,” visit the Fathom Events press site.
Fathom Events is recognized as the leading domestic distributor of event cinema with participating affiliate theaters in all 100 of the top Designated Market Areas®, and ranks as one of the largest overall distributors of content to movie theaters. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) (known collectively as AC JV, LLC), Fathom Events offers a variety of one-of-a-kind entertainment events such as live, high-definition performances of the Metropolitan Opera, dance and theatre productions like the Bolshoi Ballet and National Theatre Live, sporting events like “Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio César Chávez, Jr.,” concerts with artists like Michael Bublé, Rush and Mötley Crüe, the yearlong TCM Big Screen Classics film series, inspirational events such as To Joey With Love and Facing Darkness, and anime titles such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Fathom Events takes audiences behind the scenes and offers unique extras including audience Q&As, backstage footage and interviews with cast and crew, creating the ultimate VIP experience. Fathom Events’ live digital broadcast network (“DBN”) is the largest cinema broadcast network in North America, bringing live and pre-recorded events to 897 locations and 1,387 screens in 181 DMAs. For more information, visit www.fathomevents.com.
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films for home entertainment distribution. The Company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. In 2015, 3 out of the top 4 box office films and 7 out of the top 15 box office films were from Eros. For further information, please visit: www.erosplc.com.

ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today that Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform, will now be available on all Opera TV powered devices including smart TVs, Blu-ray disc players and set-top boxes worldwide. Subscribers will also be able to access Eros Now using the Opera TV store.
Eros Now’s wide-ranging library of Bollywood and regional language films, music videos, TV shows, originals and more will now be made available on Opera TV’s vast network of users across millions of devices worldwide. Users will also have access to a range of exciting features including full length movies, thematic curated playlists, multi-language subtitles for movies, music video playlists, regional language filters, video progression and access to a watch list of titles.
Commenting on the association, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital says, “We are excited to announce our collaboration with Opera TV and expand Eros Now’s global presence on their platform, which is the world’s largest unified platform for connected TV devices spanning more than 40 million devices shipped each year. With this association, we continue to be platform agnostic, providing a premium OTT experience and extending our reach to Opera’s fast growing network of users across the world.”
"Eros is one of India's top film studios, creating some of Bollywood's most popular and enduring stories," said Aneesh Rajaram, CEO, Opera TV. "We're excited to partnering with Eros to distribute their on-demand app, Eros Now, to millions of Opera TV-powered Smart TVs. Working together with Opera TV, Eros can bring their creative vision to multiple brands and millions of users with just one single application."
Eros Now is Eros International Plc’s leading on-demand South Asian entertainment network accessible anytime, anywhere, on most Internet-connected screen including mobile, web, and TV. Eros Now offers its 68 million registered users worldwide the promise of endless entertainment hosting one of the largest libraries of movies, as well as premium television shows, music videos and audio tracks, unmatched in quantity and quality. Product features, such as video in HD, multi-language subtitles, movie downloads, and high quality original drama series differentiate the Eros Now entertainment offering. To see, watch now: www.erosnow.com
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films. The company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. For further information please visit: www.erosplc.com
Opera TV is the market leader in enabling the TV industry’s transition to OTT. The Opera TV portfolio powers rich web experiences on tens of millions of devices each year, including Smart TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray Disc players, Game Consoles and chipsets for more than 60 customers. The Opera TV ecosystem spans the Opera TV Store app platform with over a thousand entertaining apps tailor-made for TV, the Opera Devices SDK (software development kit) for creating and rendering HTML5-based user interfaces including optional modules to enable HbbTV, the Opera Media Streaming Module, to manage the rapidly changing global OTT streaming requirements, and the Opera TV browser for browsing the full web on TV. Opera TV offers solutions for OEMs, pay-TV operators, broadcasters and content publishers. Visit www.opera.com/tv to learn more.

ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros Now, one of the fastest growing digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platforms, owned by Eros International Plc (NYSE:EROS), today announced a strategic partnership with Smartron, a Sachin Tendulkar-backed India-based IoT startup, to provide its extensive entertainment repertoire to Smartron smartphone customers. Eros Now will be the exclusive digital OTT service for entertainment content on all Smartron devices. Sachin Tendulkar is an Indian sporting legend and one of the most accomplished cricket players of all time. He is the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket.
As their preferred partners, Eros Now will provide its vast repository of movies, television shows, music, originals and regional content across multiple languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi and Marathi to all Smartron customers. Eros Now will leverage from Smartron’s extensive marketing campaigns and packaging to promote the partnership.
The smartphone user base in India reached 300 million in 2016 with the market growing by 18% as per a report by Counterpoint’s Research, paving the way for India to become the second-biggest smartphone market in terms of active unique smartphone users.
Commenting on the association, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital said, “With high smartphone penetration and an all-time rise in content consumption on handheld devices, we are happy to join hands with Smartron as this strategic partnership strengthens our philosophy of bringing entertainment at audience fingertips anytime, anywhere.”
“We are excited to partner with Eros Now as we get ready to roll out our highly intelligent and customized entertainment experience through our tronx platform,” said Mahesh Lingareddy, Founder and Chairman, Smartron. “All of our tronx users can experience great entertainment seamlessly across all our existing smart devices like the tphone, tbook, srtphone and the soon to be launched devices and beyond. We believe in making life smarter and simpler and, with this, even more people can tap into the incredible capabilities of our tronx IoT platform.”
Eros Now is Eros International Plc’s leading on-demand Indian entertainment network accessible anytime, anywhere, on most Internet-connected screen including mobile, web, and TV. Eros Now offers its 58 million registered users worldwide the promise of endless entertainment hosting one of the largest libraries of movies, as well as premium television shows, music videos and audio tracks, unmatched in quantity and quality. Product features, such as video in HD, subtitles in English and Arabic, movie downloads, and high quality original drama series differentiate the Eros Now entertainment offering. To see, watch now: www.erosnow.com.
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films. The company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. For further information please visit: www.erosplc.com
Smartron was founded in August 2014 with a vision to build India’s first true global technology OEM brand that is ‘designed and engineered’ in India for India and the world. Smartron developed and introduced tronxTM, an AI powered IoT platform offering devices, sensors, services, community and care delivering seamless and intelligent experience targeting consumer, enterprise, industrial and infrastructure markets. With more than 50 patents already filed, Smartron is innovating and investing in variety of smart, sensor, robotics, big data, artificial intelligence and UI/UX technologies.
Smartron high-end tbook, tphone and srtphone under tronx platform give the users easy access to the tstore, tcloud (unlimited storage), tcare and services offering seamless experiences. Sachin Tendulkar the Brand Ambassador and Strategic Shareholder of Smartron had formally launched these devices.

An outboard motor unit comprising a containment casing (4) housing in its interior a motor (10), disposed with its axis at an angle to the rotation shaft (32) of a propeller (24), and operatively connected to this latter by transmission means (22, 36, 36), the lower portion (16) of said containment casing housing said propeller and being of tapering profile, wherein inside said containment casing, a cooling circuit is provided for said motor, comprising:- an aperture (30) for the entry, into said circuit, of the water in which the motor unit is immersed, said aperture being defined at the tip of the tapering profile of said lower portion and axially facing and aligned with said shaft of the propeller;- an impeller (40) connected directly to said shaft of the propeller such that said rotation shaft of said propeller coincides with, and is aligned with, that of said impeller, and acting in the sense of feeding the water which has entered said circuit to a delivery conduit for cooling said motor;- at least one aperture for the exit of the water after it has cooled said motor.

ISLE OF MAN, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eros Now, the cutting-edge over-the-top (OTT) Bollywood entertainment platform owned by Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS), announced its association with SpeedPay – a multi-purpose offline wallet and Indian state owned telecommunications provider, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). With the exclusive tie-up with BSNL, Eros Now will now be bundled across all its existing and new data pack users. The association also enables Eros Now as the exclusive Indian film content provider to data pack users and grants access to the OTT platform’s uninterrupted and seamless entertainment services from premium old and new Bollywood movies, music videos, TV shows and Eros Now originals.
The partnership further strengthens Eros Now’s presence across BSNL’s SpeedPay outlets. SpeedPay is a multi-purpose offline wallet that is used to purchase various service On-mobile from affiliated merchants based on ‘anywhere-anytime’ concept and provide safety and convenience for the customer. Unlike other wallets where funds are transferred digitally, SpeedPay is a user-friendly wallet where consumers can walk in to stores, pay cash and recharge/top-up the wallet. SpeedPay has approximately 1.2 million unique visitors transacting every month in the Middle East, and approximately 4 million transactions per day in India. Eros Now will be able reach out to a large database of over 1.3 million retailers and approximately over 2 million unique users in India through SpeedPay.
Commenting on the association, Kumar Ahuja, President – Business Development, Eros International, said, “We are happy to associate with SpeedPay and one of the largest telecommunications giants in India, BSNL. This strategic partnership gives Eros Now the edge in tapping a huge customer base across non-metros and tier 2 cities where our telecommunications partner is an undisputed leader. This, along with extending the association to SpeedPay further reaffirms our philosophy of being platform agnostic and expanding our reach strategy, bringing ErosNow’s premium and unparalleled entertainment services on the go”.
Paritosh Reddy, CEO, Pyro, said “We are extremely excited to partner with Eros Now and offer their extensive and exclusive Indian movie content to our customers. Our widespread retail network, that spans across the country, will now be able to accept cash payment from Eros Now subscribers - thus allowing the unbanked sector also to enjoy the benefits of OTT services.”
SpeedPay – an open loop mobile wallet that allows users to withdraw cash through ATMs and authorized agent network. SpeedPay enables users to also make domestic money transfer, cash deposits, utility bill payments, prepaid mobile recharge, purchase of train and bus tickets, Insurance Premium payments, Credit Card bill payments, Electricity Bill payments etc. SpeedPay is a one stop solution that empowers merchants, retailers and customers to make and accept payments.
Eros Now is Eros International Plc’s leading on-demand Bollywood entertainment network accessible anytime, anywhere, on most Internet-connected screen including mobile, web, and TV. Eros Now offers its 58 million registered users worldwide the promise of endless entertainment hosting one of the largest libraries of movies, as well as premium television shows, music videos and audio tracks, unmatched in quantity and quality. Product features, such as video in HD, subtitles in English and Arabic, movie downloads, and high quality original drama series differentiate the Eros Now entertainment offering. To see, watch now: www.erosnow.com
Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. Eros International Plc became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Eros International has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema. The Company has an extensive and growing movie library comprising of over 3,000 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films. The company also owns the rapidly growing OTT platform Eros Now. For further information please visit: www.erosplc.com